Russian cutie pie, Elena Dementieva made it to the semifinals in the 2008 WTA Sony Ericsson Tour Championships played Nov. 3-10 at Doha, Qatar. Dementieva was defeated in that match by No. 7 ranked fellow Russian, Vera Zvonareva in a close 3-set match, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 3-6.
In these championships, the first rounds are played as round-robins to make it to the final four. The final two matches are played out as a regular tournament.
In her first rounds, Dementieva defeated No.2 ranked fellow Russian, Dinara Safina in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. She also defeated another fellow Russian, No. 11 ranked Nadia Petrova in a very close 3-setter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Dementieva was then defeated by No. 6 ranked Venus Williams of the USA. Williams was the eventual champion.
Considering the high quality of the players in this championship, Dementieva did quite well. That moved her up to No. 4 in the world rankings this week.
